Oleg Petrov's physical dimensions and attributes appear perfectly suited to the New York Rangers of the year 1940. He has a low centre of gravity upon which he can turn on a dime, make lightning quick shifts in direction and feather passes like an artist. He's also hard to knock off the puck, reads the ice well, and is a great set-up man from the point.

Petrov's problem, however, is that he's a little magician skating in a land of giants that is the NHL of today. As such, he's had difficulty surmounting the challenges of working his magic in a tough, hard-hitting environment.

A member of Russia's World Junior team in 1991, Petrov skated for three season with CSKA Moscow, before joining the Montreal Canadiens organization where, in the early going, he struggled to crack the Habs' lineup with any degree of consistency. He did, however, arrive just in time to play one playoff game en route to the Canadiens' Stanley Cup victory in 1993.

Coming off a Stanley Cup victory in 1993, Petrov entered his first full season with Montreal in 1993-94, and finished with 27 points and was named to the NHL All-Rookie Team. In the ensuing years, he was bounced between Montreal and Fredericton of the AHL. Having grown tired of the circular train, he opted to take his game to Switzerland where he skated for three seasons with Ambri-Piotta.

After competing at the 1998 World Championships, Petrov decided to give the NHL another go in 1999-00. This time around he experienced a renaissance when teamed with Habs' captain Saku Koivu. Following his second appearance at the World Hockey Championships in 2000, the speedy forward, netted a career-high 17 goals and 30 assists during the 2000-01 campaign. Coming off a career year in points 2000-01, Petrov scored a career high 24 goals the following year, however, after a slow start to the 2002-03 season he was traded to the Nashville Predators.

REGULAR SEASON

PLAYOFFS

Season

Club

League

GP

G

A

TP

PIM

+/-

GP

G

A

TP

PIM

1988-89

Soviet Union

EJC-A

6

1

4

5

4

1989-90

CSKA Moscow

USSR

30

4

7

11

4

1989-90

CSKA Moscow

Super-S

1

1

0

1

0

1990-91

CSKA Moscow

USSR

43

7

4

11

8

1990-91

CSKA Moscow

Fr-Tour

1

0

0

0

0

1990-91

Soviet Union

WJC-A

7

4

4

8

4

1991-92

CSKA Moscow

CIS

42

10

16

26

8

1991-92

CSKA Moscow 2

CIS-3

3

0

0

0

4

1992-93

Montreal Canadiens

NHL

9

2

1

3

10

+2

1

0

0

0

0

1992-93

Fredericton Canadiens

AHL

55

26

29

55

36

5

4

1

5

0

1993-94

Montreal Canadiens

NHL

55

12

15

27

2

+7

2

0

0

0

0

1993-94

Fredericton Canadiens

AHL

23

8

20

28

18

1994-95

Montreal Canadiens

NHL

12

2

3

5

4

-7

1994-95

Fredericton Canadiens

AHL

17

7

11

18

12

17

5

6

11

10

1995-96

Montreal Canadiens

NHL

36

4

7

11

23

-9

5

0

1

1

0

1995-96

Fredericton Canadiens

AHL

22

12

18

30

71

6

2

6

8

0

1996-97

HC Ambri-Piotta

Swiss

45

24

28

52

44

1996-97

HC Merano

Italy

10

3

11

14

2

2

2

1

3

2

1997-98

HC Ambri-Piotta

Swiss

40

30

63

93

60

14

11

11

22

40

1997-98

Russia

WC-A

6

3

3

6

4

1998-99

HC Ambri-Piotta

Swiss

45

35

52

87

52

15

8

11

19

32

1998-99

Russia

WC-A

6

0

2

2

4

1999-00

Montreal Canadiens

NHL

44

2

24

26

8

+10

1999-00

Quebec Citadelles

AHL

16

7

7

14

4

+2

1999-00

Russia

WC-A

6

1

1

2

4

+2

2000-01

Montreal Canadiens

NHL

81

17

30

47

24

-11

2001-02

Montreal Canadiens

NHL

75

24

17

41

12

-4

12

1

5

6

2

2002-03

Montreal Canadiens

NHL

53

7

16

23

16

-2

2002-03

Nashville Predators

NHL

17

2

2

4

2

-4

2003-04

HC Geneve-Servette

Swiss

48

24

34

58

97

12

3

7

10

18

2004-05

Russia

W-Cup

2004-05

EV Zug

Swiss

44

29

23

52

85

8

1

5

6

45

2005-06

EV Zug

Swiss

32

11

21

32

58

7

3

3

6

42

2006-07

EV Zug

Swiss

42

12

40

52

95

12

4

6

10

18

2007-08

Ak Bars Kazan

Russia

32

8

13

21

22

10

5

4

9

10

2007-08

EV Zug

Swiss

18

6

8

14

8

2008-09

Ak Bars Kazan

KHL

54

9

13

22

24

21

5

3

8

20

2009-10

Atlant Moscow Region

KHL

50

18

9

27

58

4

1

0

1

6

2010-11

Atlant Moscow Region

KHL

34

8

21

29

50

24

7

5

12

27

2011-12

Ak Bars Kazan

KHL

31

4

6

10

16

10

0

0

0

20

2012-13

Spartak Moscow

KHL

40

3

12

15

26

2012-13

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl

KHL

5

0

0

0

4

4

0

0

0

2

NHL Totals

382

72

115

187

101

20

1

6

7

2

NHL All-Rookie Team (1994)

Signed as a free agent by Montreal, July 15, 1999. Traded to Nashville by Montreal for Nashville's 4th round pick (later traded to Washington - Washington selected Andreas Valdix) in 2003 NHL Draft, March 3, 2003. Signed as a free agent by Geneve (Swiss), July 24, 2003. Officially announced his retirement, December 4, 2013.